The Sky was Bright and Red
by Arcbolt Hunter
Summary: "Their faces. Their faces are of bone and flesh. Their faces are of blood and teeth."
1. Chapter 1

I tossed my knife. It was black and gray with a slight curve to it. The smooth edge was sharp, meeting with the rough, jagged edge at the base. It flipped in the air with a soft whir, glinting in the morning sun coming inside the abandoned building. The glass was cracked, but intact. You could hear the wind outside, howling through the uneven walls. The roof rattled some, but the rusted building stayed strong. I caught the knife and sheathed it, turning to look outside. The grass was dead, with sparse snow covering here and there in drifts. Small shrubs littered the place. I looked up through the gorge to see the sky was blue with no clouds. The sun beat down, but man, was it cold outside. Inside, the room was mostly empty. The only thing there was the carcass of an old couch, with only the metal frame, and what looked like a counter half torn down. Bits of metal and garbage was everywhere. The only new looking thing to see was my helmet and a metallic looking blanket. The blanket lit up briefly and disappeared into the air. My companion, Kai, rose up from where it had been.

Kai was a ghost, a mechanized ball of light created by the Traveler to watch over us. He was white, with what looked like spikes attached to a black ball. He would be perfectly symmetrical if he was folded in half. He had a blue 'eye', and the spikes would move and spin, showing emotion like any human, exo, or awoken could with a face. Kai, like any Ghost, can create objects from materials around him. The most convenient way to do this is to use glimmer, which I always keep on me. He hovered and moved around the room, briefly looking outside the window and glancing at me.

I walked to the broken counter and retrieved my helmet. It belonged to the "Fear Eater" set, colored with browns, some red, and a bit of white. Given out by the Vanguard only to those who earned it. They made you work for your gear, not giving it out to anyone who walks in fresh from their first revive due to our resource stock. Resources were always needed, and they were becoming more scarce out here. Glimmer especially. Glimmer is a programmable matter that can be shaped into anything with the right touch of technology, and was also used a currency. Ghosts can do it naturally, which is very helpful.

I put my helmet on and pulled my hood up. "Kai, are you ready?" He came level to my face and nodded. "Murko and Karo are on their way here. They'll be dropping down in a few minutes outside the next search area." A beacon popped up against my visor. It was a couple miles away, inside Dock-13. "Sounds good." I said, inspecting my hand cannon. It's name for guardians is Lord High Fixer, or High Fix for short. It was a splendid orange with diagonal black stripes down his short barrel, the chamber being a beat up white. I flipped it open and spun it, creating a soft mechanical clicking sound, almost like well oiled gears. Kai disappeared and rejoined my soul. Popping it closed and holstering, I opened the door and felt the wind. It was strong, and my cape billowed behind me like a banner. The old metal door rattled behind me for a second before being pinned to the wall again. In a flash of light, my sparrow, a one passenger fast transport vehicle, materialized in front of me. It had the shape of an arrowhead, and floated off the ground. It was propelled by a single jet located at the rear.

I climbed on board and began speeding towards the marker on my hud. I watched the skies. There were no ships above, and no movement around me. It was silent aside from the wind and the whine of my engine. Minutes went by and still nothing. I disturbed a murder of crows. They took flight, yelling at me as they disappeared from my sight.

When I arrived, Murko and Karo were waiting for me, getting there just before my arrival. Murko was a titan of the awoken race. His armor set was the Commando Type 0, the under armor colored with a pre-Golden Age green camouflage color and the armor plates a light cream color. His visor was an olive. Karo was an exo, with Warlock powers. His armor, well robes, was from the Vanguard, nicknamed 'Viper Spine'. They were darkly colored, being mostly a brown with green pauldrons and the such. I raised my hand in a wave as I got off the sparrow. In a flash, it disappeared.

I moved up the rusted stairs where Murko pulled me into a hug, happy to see me back. "Glad you made it out here. Not that we were worried or anything haha!" I nodded my head. I had missed them. Karo hugged me as well, and we took a moment to talk about the past few days. "How was the battle?" Murko looked down and shuffled the dirt. "It went pretty well I think. We won with minimal casualties. Titan brawn and Warlock brains got the job done." I smiled. "And how about the Hunters?"

"Hunters? Pssh. They did absolutely nothing..not like they were shot to oblivion, or vaporized in arc, or were stabbed a couple of times or anything," Karo teased, "Hunters are absolutely useless, I promise."

"Oh man, I'm sure we were useless. Most definitely."

Becoming serious, we made our way through the abandoned building. Called Dock-13, it was known for the Fallen that dwell within. The Fallen are one of the species who have joined the Darkness for power. They are divided into different houses: House of Devils, Kings, Wolves, WInter, and Exile. Each house is ruled by a Kell, followed by the Archon Priest and Prime Servitors. They come in all range of sizes, which is dictated by their rations of ether, their life substance. Beneath the three, are the Fallen barons, captains, vandals, and dregs. They have four arms, and a spider like face. One of their customs is that dregs, the lowest ranking Fallen, must earn their lower pair of arms. They are cut off, and must work their way up in the ranks to be allowed to grow them back.

Dock-13 is known to be home to the House of Devils, neighbored by the Kings in the Skywatch area. Cloaked in red and white, the Devils are dangerous. Exhibiting wire rifles, shock blades, and a cloaking ability, they are deadly. I took point, watching radar and avoiding obstacles that could alert anything of our position. We moved silently, checking rooms and hallways one after another. The air was cold, and smelled of what could almost be sulfur. The further we moved inside, the more bones appeared. Pile after pile of human bones were seen, thrown into corners. Clearing the last room, we came back to our objective point: an old computer system. Kai and Shein, Murko's ghost, jumped out of us and began scanning the area, taking in any data they could. A faint white aura glowed around them as beams of analyzing light ran across the surfaces of the machine. They moved over to the Fallen devices hanging from the ceiling in the Fallen version of cargo nets. Full of machine parts and broken shanks, the two ghosts materialized what could be brought back to the Tower. Loon, Karo's ghost, jumped out last and zoomed out of the room, ushering us to get down and hide. We hit the floor and took cover behind Fallen crates. Murko was to my left, Karo to the right across the room. The clank of heavy boots rung in the air, slowly and evenly.

Loon came back and instantly materialized back with Karo. We held our breath as they hit our radar. More and more appeared, the footsteps growing in size. Clang. Clang. It was all you could hear. The silence was cut when a Queenbreaker captain came into view through the broken observatory window. Followed by one vandal and three dregs, they rounded the corner into the room. The clanging stopped. The Queenbreaker ushered words in its tongue, and the dregs moved forward coming for the crates. The vandal stood as overwatch at the doorway while the captain went to the old computer system. It began pulling at the rusted cover, getting to the guts of the machine. The dregs moved closer, blinking furiously on our radars. Karo raised three fingers and counted down to the moment of strike.

Three.

Two.

One.

In a great rush, we raised our weapons and fired. The sound of rage echoed the room as the dregs went down. All three thudded to the ground as the hiss of ether marked their death. Murko leapt over the crates and went charging at the vandal. It let out a bloodcurdling scream as he crashed into it, sending it flying into the wall behind them. It slumped to the ground as ether escaped. The Queenbreaker was gone in a flash of blue and white. "Murk. Karo. We need to get out right now." Fallen cries reached their ears, as the reinforcements rallied. Loon appeared on my hud. "There's still much here that we need to gather. The Warlocks-" I cut her off. "The Warlocks can get it another time. We need to get out alive." The clang reappeared, much louder and hurried than before, coming from the way we came. We darted out of the room, running down the short hall and through the raised door. The room was empty with a massive hole in the wall. A matching hole in the roof teased freedom, too high to get up to. We charged through the center of the room, splashing water in our wake.

There was a shimmer in my vision and before I could react, a vandal lunged, uncloaking itself, baring dual shock blades. I blinked, or teleported, behind it, the tattered cape it wore brushing against me. It growled and turned to me, angry that I had tricked it. I kept running as Murko rammed it down. The crackle and hiss of flames was heard shortly after, coming from Karo's incendiary grenade. I turned and saw the flames licking at the doorway we had just come out of. Fallen howls were halted and replaced with a scream as a dreg was pushed through the flames in the stampede. Finally, we escaped the building.

But we were teased again. The loud boom of a skiff entering atmosphere resounded through the wasteland. The loud engine let off a wunn..wunn..wunn sound. It lowered to the open ground by the old buildings and unloaded the Devil walker tank clinging to its belly.


	2. Chapter 2

The Skiff came close to the surface and released the Walker. It's hulking frame shook the ground, sending up a flurry of snow. Being built of thick plates, six legs, a gatling gun, cannon, shock grenades, and a belly full of shanks, this was a beast. Shanks are drones that love to gang up on you. There are many different variations of them, including a suicide drone. As the Walker brought all weapons online, the Skiff provided covering fire while ascending back to orbit. Arc bolts smashed at the ground. We ran to the building in front of us. It looked like an old storage building. It was rather small, but bunkered into the ground. The Skiff disappeared and the Walker began rotating its cannon. Drones flew out of its belly in a storm, about six of them. A flurry of blue bullets followed, the shanks immediately tracking us. We quickly dispatched the Fallen in the storage building, fighting not only them, but time. Rushing to the second building atop the sloping hill, an alarm went off as the Walker readied to fire, a laser pointing at our next step. The cannon fired and missed, flaring our shields. The impact of the blast threw us forward. I tumbled across the ground, dazed and deaf. I felt something warm trickle out of my ears. In my blurred vision I saw my teammates. Karo was firing his pulse rifle at the Fallen reinforcements behind me as Murko ran back. He grabbed the scruff of my cloak, half running and half dragging me. I stumbled behind as the bright orange of an incendiary grenade soared over us, the familiar crackle reaching my popped ears. I saw Kai pop up and immediately attend to my ears, the ringing and blood soon stopping.

I looked out the window and saw it preparing to release an arc salvo. Karo yelled to get to the ground. The salvo fired, rattling the old building. It groaned and the walls crackled with blue arc energy. Glass rained down on us and my ears buzzed again. Shank bullets sizzled against the metal walls in small blasts of blue, and then from the door. The grenade's flames must have died. I pulled out High Fix and returned fire. The alarm went off again, the red laser aimed through the shattered windows. Murko dashed to the center of the room where the laser pointed and held his arms out. An aura grew around him, and in the blink of an eye we were encased in a bubble of purple Light. There was a muffled thud where the cannon fired into it, leaving no damage inside. As the smoke cleared, everything outside was decimated. A large crater in the side of the hill marked what would had been our graves.

We ran out of the bubble and away from the building under the dissipating smoke. Karo's voice spoke on our comms, sounding lame. "Murko, stay with Resna and don't let her get killed. Drag her again if you have to." I huffed at him. Splitting up, we went on opposite sides of the walker, quickly clearing opposing forces. Murko and I kneeled behind the jersey barriers aside another building. "Get out your rockets Murk." Both of ours appeared in our hands, already loaded. We aimed and fired in unison, the rockets exploding against the hull of the monster. The force of the explosion pushed it down, the legs straining to compensate for the impact. Its gatling gun fired in return, and we ducked behind the jersey barriers. Karo fired his sniper rifle into the exposed back of the legs. In a rain of sparks and shrapnel, the first leg blew up. The Walker heaved to keep upright. It began overheating, forcing the front compartment to slide open, exposing the glowing orange engine. Firing together again, the missiles flew true to the engine. The Walker exploded in fire, killing the shanks around it. Pieces of the tank flew through the air as embers were lifted from the flames. The remaining Fallen deserted the place, retreating in a flash of blue as they went back to their ships. The burning wreckage sent a plume of black smoke into the air.

We regrouped inside the building where Murko had created his void bubble. An incoming transmission buzzed in our comms. The deep voice of the Titan Vanguard filled our ears. "Guardians, what's the situation?" The TItan Vanguard is named Zavala, being of awoken descendance. He oversees all Titans, mentoring and outfitting. He is in charge of the city's defense as well. Karo laughed a little coldy. "Sir, the situation is burning in front of us." Loon's icon appeared. "You are a little late Commander Zavala. We have completed our mission and destroyed a Fallen Walker." Her voice chimed. Our ghosts leapt out in a flash and prepared to send us to our ships in orbit. "The Fallen have retreated from The Divide. Incoming forces unknown." There was a sigh from Zavala, followed by a congrats. "Fireteam Ruse, you are dismissed from the field. Resna, I understand that you stayed behind to monitor enemy activity in the area. And that Murko and Karo returned to the front lines of defense. You three deserve a leave from action for a few days. On behalf of the Vanguard, thank you."

The transmission ended, leaving only the harsh cries of the crows to be heard. Fallen skiffs appeared in the distance as we left the earth in a whisper. The feeling of weightlessness filled me as we warped to our ships. The afternoon light left, being replaced with the soft glow of Earth's atmosphere. Even after being destroyed and ransacked, it was still beautiful. The blues were mesmerizing, with the blotches of the green being woven in between the drifts of clouds. The halo of light faded in with the darkness of space. Speckled with stars of different colors, clouds of gas, and the Milky Way itself, it gave it a unique tinge of color. The cockpit matched the darkness, being lit up with its own buttons and switches, mimicking the stars outside. I rested against the seat, glad to be able to relax.

I removed my helmet and rested it on my lap. It had new scratches and chips. I turned it over, inspecting the material inside. The silver visor reflected the star light and the blinking lights, creating a new universe. I thumbed the scratches as Kai made repairs to it. It glowed faintly as the cuts were filled in. Soon, the surface was as sound as it had been the first time I received it. No blemishes marked it.

"Kai?"

"Yes?"

"How long have we been doing this?"

"Doing what specifically?"

"You know. Fighting."

"It has been four years, seven months, twelve days since I found you."

"What was the date?"

"November 14th, 2810."

I stared into my visor. It stared back.

"Kai?"

"Yes?"

"How old am I?"

"Four years, seven months, twelve days."

"I understand that. But you said that I had a previous life."

He flashed out of me, hovering at eye level with an inquiring expression.

"I did say that when I found you, but that was the old you. The old you is not you."

"What was I like?"

"I cannot tell you Resna. The old you is not you."

I remained silent. There was something that tugged at my mind. I willed everything I had, but couldn't remember. The tug dissipated shortly after.

Murko's voice filled the comms, asking if everyone was ready to go back to the Tower. Karo replied, his light flashing green on the grid. I pressed the ready button. All three flashed green, and our ships revved to life and began flying to the Tower. The Traveler entered our vision as we came closer.

The Traveler was a large white orb. Clouds shaped rings around it, with visible arcs of lightning dotting them. The Traveler is a god of Light. It came to us and brought upon the Golden Age of Civilization. Miracles happened, according to old texts, and that humanity flourished. We claimed new planets, colonized, and hit a new age in technology. Some of that technology survives still to this day, scattered throughout our ancient bastions. But then the Darkness found the Traveler, and a battle ensued. It brought armies of the species that joined its forces, hungry for power. The Fallen, their civilization destroyed, the Hive, being of pure darkness, and the Vex, creations of the Traveler who then betrayed it. The Traveler was crippled. Humanity lost. We lost cities, continents, planets. Knowledge and life. We fell into a dark age, with the constant battle of Light and Darkness. The war has been raging for 700 years. But for once, we are beginning to make a comeback. Hope was broadening on the horizon.

As we neared the Traveler, you could see its scars. Long, black cuts marked where it had been cleaved. Chasms were ripped into it. Whole pieces of the Traveler were wrenched away, exposing the black material underneath. It was a pitiful sight.

The landscape was nearly a blur below me. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow against the rusted fields. The mountains rose far above us, with white and steel of snow and stone. The thick forests below had an evening mist blanketing them. We were at the edge of the city, where the tower was built. It was the last of many located around the circumference of the walls. We began docking, the familiar building welcoming us back. Kai warped me off the ship, dropping me off at the balcony aside the hangar. Banners waved on both sides of me, flapping in the cold wind. Humans, awokens, and exos bustled around doing the lasts of their lists before the sun went down, too preoccupied to notice me. Murkos warped beside me, shortly followed by Karo. At our feet, the phrase 'Atrivm Propvgnatorvm' was written in the stone. In Latin, it means 'Hall of Champions'.

Feeling exhausted, we wasted no time grabbing a hot bite to eat. The mess hall was packed with other guardians, swapping stories and enjoying the winding down of the day. It was warmly lit, and the company was nice. After about staying for a little over an hour, we decided it was time to go back and rest. Murkos and I returned to our dorm while Karo returned to the city below.

/

My room was briefly lit up as the storm found us. It was silent for a few moments before the deep rumbling caught up. Soon afterwards, the soft patter of rain was heard against my window. Very slowly at first, but quickly turned into a furious downpour. Water streamed down the glass in a great torrent. Whoever was still outside in the courtyard would definitely have a cold by morning.

I was exhausted, but couldn't find respite. I shifted in bed onto my side, staring at the window. The streams of water distorting the outside view reminded me of the cloaked vandal that had been killed earlier. How many have we killed over the years? It wasn't remorse I felt, but something hollow. The soft pressure of Kai entered my mind. I could tell you if you would like. I didn't answer him. The thoughts of my enemies churned inside my head. What made the Fallen evil? The Whirlwind that destroyed their home? And the Vex? Who would create something like that… And then there's the Hive. I understand the Cabal, but… I closed my eyes, eliminating the thoughts. All that matters is that we protect the Traveler. That we survive. We are the ones being attacked, not them.


End file.
